Power corner cutter



Feb. 6, 1951 R. ABERLE POWER CORNER CUTTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.9, 1947 ENToR.

R0 )fI ABE/ME 5I BYV HTTOHNEY Feb. 6, 1951 R. ABl-:RLE 2,540,227

POWER CORNER CUTTER Filed Jan. 9, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I l lINVENTOR.

Feb. 6, 1951 R. ABERLE POWER CORNER CUTTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan.9, 1947 v BERLE Patented Feb. 6, 1951 2,540,227 POWER -ooRNER CUTTER RoyAberle, Portland, Maine, assignor to Southworth Machine Company,Portland, Maine, a

company of Maine Application january 9, 1947, 'serial N0. 721,044

My present invention relates to cutting machines, particularly tomachines for cutting or punching holes, slots, or shapes in paper, andmore particularly to machines for cutting or trimming the corners ofsheets of paper to any desired contour or radius. y y

An object of the invention is an improved machine for cutting orpunching holes, slots, or ir:- regular shapes in a pile of sheets ofpaper or like material. y

Another object is an improved machine for cutting or trimming thecorners of a stack of sheets to any desired contour or radius.

A further object is the provision of a simple, durable, and compactmechanism for the binding and cutting heads in a machine of thischaracter.

A further object is an accurate and easy adjusting means for the bindingand cutting heads.

A still further object is' the provision of means for confining the cuton chips resulting from the operation of the machine within a givenspace for ready removal.

Other objects and novel features of the construction and operation ofthe parts comprising my machine wnl appear as the description of theinvention progresses.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a' preferred embodiment of myinvention:

Figure 1 is a front elevation; partly broken away.

Figure 2 is 'a side elevation, partly in section.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a sectional View, taken on the line c i of Fig. 3, andlooking in the direction of the arrows, and

Figure 5 is a sectional plan view, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2, andlooking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a base l0,- preferably of castiron, and of any suitable dimensions,- having secured thereto andextending upwardly therefrom, rear pedestal legs H and front pedestallegs l2. Mounted on the top o'f the legs ll and l2 and bolted thereto isan apron I3.

The base Eli, legs il and t2, and apron i3 coristitute an open structureto be later closed with suitable side plates and door. However, thesehave not been shown, nor will they be referred to further, as they arenot of the essence of the present invention. Bolted to the rear legs l!isa frame i!! having formed therein a slideway I5 in which is mountedfor reciprocation a cutter slide i6.

6 Clans; (Cl. 164-51) Also 'formed in the frame i4, in the rear of theslideway l5 and lying parallel to such slideway l5 (see Fig. 5) is aclamp slideway lea in which is s'lidably mounted the clamp member orbinder slide 63a which carries the clamp or binder foot 63.

A cast iron table section I7 is mounted on and secured to the top of theapron `I3 and is surrounded by a wood table I8. Secured to the tablesection Il, in any suitable manner, is a stationary cutting die IS (seeFig. 5). Secured to the cast iron table section l l, are right and lefthand side gauges 20. For clearness of illustration, the left one only ofsuch gauges is shown in the drawings.

The gauge mechanism consists of slots 2| formed in the table Il in whichslide corner gauge clamps 22, oneonly of which is shown. Each side gauge2t is secured to the top of its gauge clamp 22 by bolt 23. Threadinginto a boss on the lower face of each clamp 22 is the inner end of ashaft 24 having secured to its outer end a gauge adjusting knob 25. Eachshaft 2d is mounted in a bearing or guide 26 (see Fig. 1) secured to theunder side of table IS by screws 2l and prevented from longitudinalmovement with respect to said table by adjusting set screw collar 28. Byrotating the shaft 24, the gauge '20 may be positioned as desired.

Cutter slide I6 slides within slideway I5 and carries a cutting knife28a (see Fig. 2'). At the lower end of cutter slide it is located atransverse kconnecting rod pin on which is mounted a link bearing 30secured to the upper end of a connecting rod 3|.

Connecting rod 3| extends downwardly to a reduction rdriving unit 32(see Figs. 1 and 2)r mounted on plate 33 which is secured to base l0.Mounted on and forming part of the reduction driving unit 32 and spacedapart from each other are crankshaft bearings 343 (see Fig. 3) in whichis rotatably mounted a crankshaft 35. On the crank portion of thecrankshaft 35 is rotatably mounted a connecting rod bearing 36 securedto the lower end of connecting rod 3|. n, On the crankshaft 35 adjacentthe middle bearing 34 is rotatably mounted a worm gear 31 which mesheswith and is driven by a worm 38. Worm 38 is` secured to a worm shaft 39which is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings in a bracket il (seeFig. 1) forming part of the reduction unit 32 and in a bracket 42secured to plate 33.

On worm shaft 39, adjacent bracket 42, lis sencured a combined iiywheeland b'elt pulley 5 2, which is in alignment with a driving pulley Ul`mounted on' the shaft of a continuously operated motor 45, secured toplate 33. Over pulleys 43 and 44 runs a V-belt 46 by means of which theiiywheel and belt pulleys are rotated. Worm 38 is preferably enclosed ina housing or cover 41.

Keyed to the crankshaft 35 is a clutch member 48 which contains anengaging pin 49 (see Fig. 3) held under tension by spring 49o andcontrolled by a tripping lever 56 which in turn is controlled by a footpedal I. The foot pedal 5I is secured to a treadle shaft 52 rotatablymounted at one end in a bearing 53, and at its other end in a bearingformed in the right front leg i2. Secured to the treadle shaft 52 is aswitch contact 54 which controls the contact of a micro-switch 55secured to bracket 42.

On treadle shaft 52 is a spring anchor 51 to which is secured the lowerend of a switch release spring 58, the upper end thereof being se? curedto the front shelf bracket 59.

The engaging pin 49 is slidable in the clutch member 4S parallel to thecrankshaft 35, and has on the end adjacent the worm gear 31 acylindrical reduced portion 49h (see Fig. 3) which is adapted to engagein a hole 31a in the hub of the worm gear 31. The engaging pin 49 isprovided with a transverse groove 49o, in which fits the lower edge ofthe tripping lever 5B.

Also, the clutch member 48 is provided with a circumferential groove 48aof the same width as the groove 49o, in the engaging pin 49, and of adepth that will ensure the lower edge of the tripping lever 55 engagingwith the engaging pin 49.

The engaging end of the tripping lever 5B is beveled, as indicated atSila in Fig. 3,l and the travel of the reduced portion 49h of theengaging pin 49 is sufficient to permit locking the worm gear 31 to theclutch member 48, but not sufficient to move the transverse groove 49aof such engaging pin 49 completely out of register with the groove 48ain the clutch member 48. Therefore, the beveled end 56a of the tripinglever 5f? will always be able to move the engaging pin 49 back to itsnormal or inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 3.

The tripping lever 5B is swivelly connected to the lower end of theplunger 50a of a solenoid 65 (see Fig. 4) and a spring 5|, mounted onthe treadle shaft 52, constantly urges the free end of the trippinglever 5i! downwardly in the groove 48a. of the clutch member 48.

The switch 55 controls the electrical circuit through the solenoid 60from any convenient electrical source. By energizing the solenoid 65,the trip lever 55 is raised out of engagement with clutch pin 4S,thereby releasing such pin 49 so that the spring tension applied to thepin 49 by the spring 49e will force such pin 49 to the left, as viewedin Fig. 3, and the reduced end 49a of such pin will engage in the hole31a provided in the hub of the free running worm gear 31, therebycausing crankshaft 35 to rotate in unison with said worm gear.

By de-energizing the solenoid 5B, the clutch trip lever 59 is releasedand is forced into the groove 48a of the clutch member 48 by spring 6 I,Fig. 4.

As the clutch member 48 revolves, the beveled end 55u of the trippinglever 55 will move into the groove 45a in the engaging pin 49, thusforcing said pin to the right, as viewed in Fig. 3. withdrawing thereduced portion 45a thereof from the hole 31d in the hub of the wormgear 31, and freeing the said worm gear 31 from the clutch member 48,and stopping the rotation of the crankshaft S5 with the crank portionthereof in its uppermost position, as viewed in Fig. 3. There is thuscaused a single stroke movement of the cutter slide l5, knife 23 andbinder slide 63d.

The rotation of the crankshaft 35, through the connecting rod 3l,provides movement through one revolution of the crankshaft to the'cutter slide i5, which carries the cutter knife 28a in one-half thecrankshaft stroke downward to a position just passing the top edge ofthe stationary die i9 and then returning the knife to its uppermostposition upon completion of the crankshaft revolution.

Located behind the cutting slide i6 and slidably mounted in the slidewayi5@ formed in the cutter head slide i4, and free to slide therein is amember 63a carrying the binder 53. EX- tending downwardly from member53a is a pair of rods 62 which are arranged parallel to each other andthreaded at their lower ends to re ceive nuts S5 against which the lowerends of a pair of long coil springs 64 react.

Formed integral with the cutter head l5, and extending rearwardlytherefrom, as shown in Fig. 2, are projections [6b against which theupper ends of coil springs 54 react and between which the rods 52 arelocated. The long springs 54 provide a Very substantial resilientoperative connection between the cutter slide i6 and the slide 63a aswill be understood.

In the preliminary movement of the cutter slide i5 downwardly theprojections lh acting through the springs 54 will force the binder 53downwardly and such binder will engage with and yieldingly hold thestack of paper to be out in advance of the engagement of the paper bythe cutter 28a. The cutter will continue downwardly through the stack ofpaper and on completion of the cutting stroke both the cutter and thebinder will move upwardly simultaneously.

At the upper end of the cutter slide i5 (see Fig. 2) is arranged a latch51 which is manually set to render binder 53 inactive for the purpose ofgaining access to the cutter knife 28a. For eX- ample, when it isdesired to set or interchange knives, the latch S1 is swung into a notch(Fig. 2) provided in the back of the binder slide 63a and upon loweringof the cutter slide the binder slide remains in its upmost position.ipon lowering the cutter slide l5 the knife 28a will be exposed forremoval, or for setting with respect to the die i 9, the die beingsnubbed in set position by back up screw 68 and locked in place by setscrew in part 59. After setting the knife and die, the cutter slide I5is returned to its upper position either by power or manual manipulationof the iiywheel 43 and the latch 61 withdrawn from the binder headnotch.

Pivotally mounted at the upper end of the cutter slide I6 is a hood 10.This hood contains light socket 1| and light bulb l2. By swinging thehood 10 on its pivotal mounting, access to the locking device 61 isobtained.

Within the cutter slide i6 an opening is provided in the form (more orless) of a chute to receive cut chips as sheared by the cutter knife28a. These chips are led downwardly and are deposited in a chip box 13located within the confines of the frame work of the machine andremovable at will.

The machine has been described in detail, and the terms knife and diehave been used, as the machine is particuluarly adapted to cut roundcorners on piles of sheets of paper. However, this representsbut oneapplication of my invention, and by modifications well within the scopeof the invention the machine may be adapted to cut holes, either roundor other shape, slots, etc., Withoutjfdeparting from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Al trimming machine comprising a frame, a horizontal table on theframe including means for supporting a iixed cutting die, the framehaving a vertical portion rearwardly of and extending upwardly beyondthe table and cutting die, said vertical portion of the frame having avertical guideway therein rearwardly of and open to its front faceand asecond and relatively narrower vertical-.guideway vtherein rearwardly ofand open to thefirst guideway, a cutter head mounted in one off saidguideways and having a forwardly projecting portion adapted to carry acutter for cooperating with the die, a slide mounted in the otherguideway and carrying a work-engaging foot, and power operated means formoving the cutter head and slide downwardly in the guideways includingmeans for advancing the foot resilientlyinto engagement with the work inadvance of the engagement of the cutter with the Work. r

2. The machine defined in claim l in which the slide is disposedrearwardly of the cutter head and is provided with a forwardly anddownwardly ex"l tending portion disposed over and forwardly of the topportion of the cutter head.

v,3. The machine dened in claim 1 in which the cutter head is disposedforwardly of the slide and is formedwith a downwardly extending chutefor receivingand directing cutting chips downwardly teja;Y chamberbeneath the table. .t

Themachine defined in claim 1 in which the last named means includes apower operated rod 5. A trimming machine comprising a frame, ahorizontal table on the frame including means for supporting a fixedcutting die, a cutter head and a slide mounted for vertical movement onthe frame, the cutter head being adapted to carry a cutter forcooperating with said die and the slide having a work-engaging foot,power operated means including a rod attached to and extendvingdownwardly from the cutter head, a rod attached to and extendingdownwardly from the slide parallel with the rst named rod, and acornpression spring on the second named rod disposed between the cutterhead and a stop on the bottom end of the second named rod forresiliently effecting downward movement of the slide from the cutterhead.

6. A trimming machine comprising a frame, a `horizontal table on theframe including means vfor supporting a iixed cutting die, a cutter headand a slide mounted for vertical movement on the frame, the cutter headbeing adapted to carry acutter for cooperating with said die and theslide having a work-engaging foot, power operated means including a rodattached to and extending downwardly from the cutter head, a compressionspring operative between the cutter head and slide for operating theslide resiliently downward from the cutter head, one-revolution clutchmeans for effecting downward movement of the rod and -cutter head, and asolenoid operated trip I mechanism for effecting operation of the clutcconnected to and extending downwardly from the l I cutter head and twocompression springs operativebetween the cutter head and slide andlocated at opposite sides of and parallel with the rod for .forcing theslide downwardly resiliently by the cutter head.

means.

ROY ABERLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent: f

Hoskwith Qns- Sept. 1, 1936

